Noah's Ark
- Thread starter Gwydion
- Start date
You will.wxtornado said:Lol, easy there fella. I was only asking you which God I should ask. Anyhoo, I asked, and I really didn't get anything as an answer.
Expecting an answer?wxtornado said:
If you are really expecting an answer from God, you will get one. Whether you recognize it or not is another matter.wxtornado said:
Toxick
Splat
wxtornado said:I'll take your word for it. I'll just wait until I get an answer or until........I get tired of waiting I guess!
Well, good luck with that.
Although - I dont' think that crossing your arms, tapping your foot, and looking sarcastically skyward really counts as sincere and earnest waiting.
But - whatever spins your props.
If you asked sincerely, you will get an answer.wxtornado said:
Toxick
Splat
wxtornado said:
No - of course not.
Perish the thought.
wxtornado said:
Well, keep in mind, I was an atheist (not agnostic - but militant atheist) for a very long time and I was (am) a bigger smug smartass than anybody you know ... and I got an answer.
But perhaps you're more stubborn than I am. So we'll see. I won't say I'll pray for you because I know you don't believe in it. All I'll say is that I hope you find satisfaction on your path.
Toxick
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Nucklesack said:
Study of comparitive religion. Reading with an open mind. Lots of reading. More reading. Reading many historians' work, and philosophers. Putting a few pieces together myself.
Seek and you shall find... ; it's not BS. I sought and I found.
I've studied and determined that there was enough evidence to convince me that Jesus was exactly who He said He was... the Son of God.
Nothing I've found could be constituted as "Proof" - which is where faith comes in - but for me, there's enough evidence out there that if I were on a jury, I'd convict. This is why the term "blind faith" puts my back up. I don't believe out of blind faith. My faith is backed by what I consider to be valid evidence, regardless of how others view it.
I've written about some of the things I consider valid evidence in this furum, and the evidence I present is often ... no, is invariably dismissed out of hand in here by skeptics. That's fine and dandy, however, it doesn't put me in a mind to discuss it further, and I'm in no mood for futile debates today.
Toxick
Splat
Nucklesack said:
Well, there's not much to tell. I still have a dog-earred old pile of books from years gone by, plus a few translations of the bible, but all this happened years ago, and I couldn't give you a detailed play-by-play of my evolution (which I believe in, BTW) back to God.
I've never had a religious experience, and truthfully, I think most people who say they have are full of it. There's not one specific point where I can say "that's when I became a Christian". I don't even think I could be considered "born-again", because all of those people seem to have an epiphany of some sort which changes their life, whereas I had none. I'm still the same foul-mouthed jerk I was when I was a Godless Infidel. I'm a work in progress.
Anyway, I had no moment of clarity, it was just a slow kind of realization that I came to.
If I was forced to pinpoint a moment, perhaps the clincher was when I was reading about the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Old Testament accurately predicts the coming of Jesus, details about his life, and details about his death. Most of the Dead Sea Scrolls (which contain the almost the entire Old Testament) are dated before the birth of Christ. And the prophets of the Old Testament do not write like Nostradamus (in code) or make so many predictions that some are bound to come true... it is written fancifully - but with details, and a tone of certainty. Particuarly Daniel and Isaiah.
Note: This is not the only thing which convinced me... it was merely what pushed me over the edge enough to admit that maybe these Christians had something after all.
I wish I could give a more detailed description of my journey, and I wish I could present what I've found in such a way that people understand my conclusions and see what I see, but I'm no good with that sort of thing.
PsyOps
Pixelated
I don't think you’re unique in this respect. Mine, too, was a slow realization rather than a *BAM* *POW* *POOF* epiphany-like experience. I do feel, however, that I am "born again" in that once you accept Jesus as your savior this is what happens. Even though many folks have this big revelation and some even go on some rant of speaking in tongues and such, mine was subtle and slow. I think you know you are born again when, once you believe in Christ, you fall away and feel that nagging at your conscience drawing you back. Or that sense of guilt that you have let the Lord down when you committed some sort of sin.Toxick said: